The economic future of Vermont depends on creating high-quality "value added" jobs in enterprises that fit in our rural and clean environment. We are fortunate to have an outstanding research and knowledge base in our colleges and universities. Their research itself is an important industry in Vermont with annual receipts in excess of $50 million and a long record of continuous success in a very competitive environment.
We are also fortunate to have some very accomplished and successful centers of specialized technical knowledge in a number of key businesses in Vermont. Their record of success here results in part from a Vermont workforce of uncommon dedication and energy.
The state of Vermont offers "quality of life" advantages that have very high value to individuals and companies that depend upon dedication, continuity and insight for the success of their enterprises. The challenge of finding new and effective ways to bring these key Vermont assets together is the task the Vermont Technology Council has undertaken. This work must be understood as long term. Some of the important elements will likely take years, not months to develop. Momentum in this process will develop slowly and will be based only on solid accomplishments: permanent jobs developed and continuously competitive quality products delivered.
The Vermont Technology Council is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization that receives no state appropriation. In this report, the Council has focused its work on identifying specific objectives that can be attained in the near term, while at the same time we sought to develop and pursue a vision for the science and technology component of the future economy of Vermont that is literally unlimited.
In October and early November, after completing a preliminary draft of the report, the Committee will hold a series of public hearings around the state. Further testimony will be taken, and the view of the general public as expressed at those hearings will be reflected in this report.
Members of the Science and Technology Committee, as appointed by the Vermont Technology Council, are:
Vermont has a very proud history of using science and technology to stimulate economic development and to lift the standard of living for its citizens. With a very rugged terrain, harsh climate, and few natural energy resources, / 2 / Vermont learned quite early to rely on technological progress. Indeed, for Vermont farmers, necessity was the mother of invention on a nearly daily basis.
The link between technology and the quality of life on the farm was recognized very early in our state, and as a result one of the first land grant college in the United States, the Vermont Agriculture College (now the University of Vermont), opened its doors more than 200 years ago to young Vermonters.
The pursuit of technological innovation was further advanced in Vermont by our geographical and geological positioning. Because it is a natural corridor connecting the Hudson River and the St. Lawrence transportation arteries, Vermont was an early pioneer in steam power. Later, as rails took over the bulk of transportation volume, Vermont-bred technology produced one of the western hemisphere's first railroad tunnels.
The inventions and inventiveness of these early Vermonters quickly spawned a manufacturing industry that became the backbone of Vermont's economy. Manufacturing in Vermont was propelled into the industrial age by the development of electromagnetism and hydroelectric resources, and by the middle of this century manufacturing had supplanted agriculture as Vermont's strongest economic support. In addition to agriculture and transportation, the industrial enterprises that shared the load in meeting Vermont's economic needs included machine tools, quarrying and mining, wood products, and defense products.
At mid-century, as science and technology took the economy from the industrial to the electronic age, microelectronics and the computer industry emerged as Vermont's preeminent business. Indeed, it was the work done in Vermont that established the scientific and technological base for the multi-billiondollar microelectronics industry that today employs hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
In the late 1960s and early '70s, the scientists and manufacturing specialists at IBM's Essex Junction microelectronics facility produced the first commercially viable semiconductor computer memories that gave the fledgling microelectronics industry the volume leverage and the financial capacity to develop into the key economic contributor it is today.
At the same time, the industry is now exposed to a fierce global competition. It is important that Vermont do everything possible to assure the health of our microelectronics industry and this report will contain specific actions that the Vermont Technology Council considers important for the stabilization of this industry in Vermont. But we have to realize also that future economic growth in Vermont will not come solely from the electronics manufacturing industry.
/ 3 / The Formation of Focus Areas
The Science and Technology Committee of the Vermont Technology Council has carefully evaluated the various opportunities for developing a stimulus for the next wave of economic development, and has tried to rank these opportunities in their relative importance. Mindful of the limited resources that our state can dedicate to any one particular initiative, we have tried to establish areas of science and technology focus in which government, private enterprise, and the state's academic institutions can work together to use scientific and technological knowledge as a driver for economic development. In this process, the committee's work was greatly facilitated by the experience gathered in other states, some of which had a considerable head start over Vermont in developing specific plans to keep their economies vital through the use of science and technology. We adapted these experiences to the special situations prevailing in Vermont.
In establishing specific focus areas, we have evaluated Vermont's current economic position in a particular field, our scientific and technological strength, and the projected economic contributions of this field to our economy. At the same time, we tried to assure ourselves that the selected areas for scientific and technological focus are compatible with the overall objectives for preserving our greatest resource in Vermont, namely our environment and our way of life.
Industries For Development -- The results of the committee review and research have led to the belief that Vermont's economy can benefit most significantly and most immediately by focusing attention on the following fields:
1. The existing and rapidly growing food processing industry.
2. The emerging environmental science industry.
3. Biotechnology.
4. Advanced materials technologies.
Infrastructure Improvement Needs -- The committee has also identified several infrastructure initiatives that will greatly enhance Vermont's efforts to develop new science and technology initiatives. They are:
1. EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) -- A federalstate partnership to advance the competitiveness of Vermont's academic institutions in their scientific and research endeavors.
2. Manufacturing Extension Center -- An initiative to bring available science and technology as efficiently as possible to Vermont manufacturers in order to increase their overall effectiveness and competitiveness.
/ 4 / 3. Telecommunications -- An initiative to advance the state of the art of Vermont telecommunications services so Vermont businesses and individuals can participate in and benefit from the global information networks.
4. Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) -- An initiative to stimulate use of an existing program that provides start-up money for successful research work that entrepreneurs can turn into commercial ventures.
5. Technology Transfer Programs -- An initiative designed to assist in the transfer of results of the scientific research at our academic institutions to the public and private enterprises.
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